Wright & Edgeworth Undead Law Office: Ghost Bride
by Tarma Hartley
Summary: A distraught bride comes to Phoenix and Miles for help to find her intended who has mysteriously vanished before their Ghost Ceremony. Little do they know, as they begin to investigate, what twisted events will be awaiting them. Vampire!PxE
1. Prologue: One Dark Night

id:5435980

_A/N: Phoenix Wright & Miles Edgeworth do not belong to me, worse luck; they belong to CAPCOM. The plot, the SuperNaturals, the Ghost Bride, her intended husband and any other SuperNatural supporting cast members belong to me with the sole exception of the Chinese Ghost Ceremony which is real. I have used the tags that Mercedes Lackey uses in her "Heralds of Valdemar" series for psychic powers [Mind magic, Projecting, Fetching, et al] because I think it's REALLY COOL!  
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A distraught bride comes to Phoenix and Miles for help in locating her lost intended who mysteriously vanishes a few days before their Ghost Ceremony is to be performed. As they begin to investigate, little do they know what twisted events are waiting for them..._

_The first story of what I hope will be a very long and successful new PxE AU series! :) I've had this story banging around inside my head for quite some time so I'm very pleased that I have the Prologue finally complete! Now that Phoenix and Miles are both Vampires, they have their own Undead Law office (which they call "The Wright & Edgeworth Undead Law Office") and take cases from those who dwell in the Other World, helping the dead, newly dead or the "Don't-know-they're-dead" with any and all problems that they face. In this story, the Ghost Bride is looking for her intended bridegroom, who has mysteriously vanished just days before their Ghost Ceremony was to take place and she's desperate to get him back. (More on the Chinese Ghost Ceremony in the next chapter.)  
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_Miles is broody that evening, thinking back on the events that lead him to where he-and Phoenix-are now. He hasn't thought about the woman he saved (she'll be back in a later story) for over a year but, with the dismal, dreary weather, it's brought back to him full force. He wasn't Turned by choice-far from it!-and he's feeling depressed although Phoenix will provide, quite accidentally, a little bit of a lift! (Normally, Vampire angst bugs the living daylights out of me, particularly when the person in question wanted to be Turned! If they didn't and had it forced on them, as Miles does, then that's understandable. Who _wouldn't _be depressed when your whole life is turned, quite literally, upside down and inside out! It certainly would be one heck of a HUGE adjustment to make!_

_This is the beginning of my Halloween series of stories and I hope that you will enjoy them!_

Thanks to all my readers and those who have read, commented, story alerted, favourited and reviewed! I really appreciate it very much and thank you! I aim to improve my writing and it is comments that help me to do so! Thank you all! :)

Thanks to Midnight-hunter, my beta, for all her insights and comments! Much appreciated! :)

A special thanks to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, for all his advice, our discussion of plot points, comments, support, nagging (when necessary) and love during the writing process so I wouldn't end up tearing my hair out! Love you, honey and thanks! :)

_I hope that you will enjoy this new AU series and, as always, comments and suggestions are welcomed and much appreciated!_

Teen, AU/Supernatural/Suspense, Vampire!PxE  
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_October 15th  
7 P.M._

I looked out of our living room window on that cold, moonless evening shortly after Phoenix had been Turned, wondering how we were going to make our way in the world now that we were both officially living both outside _and_ apart from it. In the background, I could dimly hear Phoenix rooting around in the attic above my head and I smiled slightly, wondering what it was he was looking for since he'd been up there all afternoon and for a good part of the evening, as well.

A half-drunk cup of tea lay on my desk and I closed my eyes as I remembered the full-bodied flavor slide over my taste buds. I was glad that my new Vampiric unlife still allowed me this small pleasure, at least, since I had precious few left over from my mortal life.

All too soon, that pleasant thought faded, to be replaced by equally and vastly unpleasant thoughts of our _new, _Undead lives. With regard to us now both being Vampires, it seemed ludicrous, at least to me, that we had to upend our previous, human lives and try to make something new out of them with new thoughts, new powers and a new way of unliving.

I sighed and turned to face the empty room, reflecting-not without a twinge of irony-that _any_ phase of life, human _or_ otherwise, brought changes as well as challenges along with it. Even this, being Turned and at once set apart from humanity and, thus, far out of the ordinary, was _no_ exception. Although I wished there _could_ be.

_There_ should _be loopholes for the Undead_, I thought, my mouth twisting with a tinge of bitterness, my fingers brushing over my lips with an impatient swipe. _God knows that we give up enough to have the rules change for our benefit!_ My fingers gripped the arm of my chair until my knuckles turned white, the corners of my mouth twitching, revealing the depth of my distress. _It's_ not_ a casual thing to do, after all! To give up_ all _vestiges of our humanity in exchange for eternal life isn't something made lightly, despite some assertions to the contrary made by people who don't know any better. In truth, it _does _have _some _benefits, I_ don't_ deny that, but what we give up in exchange for it is considerable, particularly for those of us who had the Turning forced on us by outside circumstances and _not_ by our own free choice._

I looked out the window again and sighed as I watched the wind blow through the nearly naked trees, scattering the few remaining leaves in a crazy, twisting dance which brought to mind this evening of the incident that resulted in my Turning over a year ago. As I picked up my tea cup to take a sip of tea, I dimly wondered if the nameless woman I had saved-from the pack of what I now knew to be SuperNaturals-had succeeded in escaping with her life, like her humanity, intact.

I swallowed quickly, taking a larger mouthful and nearly burning my tongue in the process, cursing myself for not paying attention. I'd never given this nameless woman another thought for over a year but, with the bleak weather and the knowledge that winter wasn't too far off, I couldn't help but wonder what, if anything, had become of her. For all I knew, she could very well be dead and buried. There was one thing that bothered me more than most things these days did and that was loose ends, the not knowing of whether the sacrifice of both my life _and_ my humanity had, in turn, saved hers. I hoped it had or all of this would have been for nothing... and I couldn't think of anything that would be worse than that.

_I wonder where she is now._ I felt my stomach churn and closed my eyes tightly, willing the pain to go away which it did a few moments later but left a bitter taste in my mouth. _Is she alive and, if so, is she all right? Did she manage to escape and did my intervention save her life and her humanity while costing me mine?_ I closed my eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to subside which it did a few minutes later. _That's the cusp of what's really bothering me tonight and it isn't all that surprising, really. I've had a bad day which, in turn, brought on this episode of brooding with the end result being, as Phoenix would say, I spend all together too much time engaging in! _I quickly finished the remaining tea in the cup, setting it down with a soft clink on the saucer, settling back into my chair.

I tried diverting myself with pleasant things but, try as I might, I couldn't completely get rid of either the feeling or the bitter taste in my mouth. Grimacing, I supposed this would change after a few centuries of Undead living and it was something among _many_ other things that I would simply have to get used to. What other choice did I have?

_That's a tall order_, I thought tartly, my eyes narrowing as I watched the leaves blow past the window in a steady, twisting stream, _and much like asking someone who detests milk to get used to drinking it. Not a completely analogous comparison but it works well and gets the point across, I think, fairly well. _I shrugged_. If it doesn't, I'm not overly concerned about it._

I sighed once more as I slowly turned the chair around to face the desk, my left hand cupping the side of my face, feeling thoroughly out of sorts and terribly depressed. It wasn't often I felt this way but a combination of both the weather and the horrible day I'd had earlier had brought this latest episode on. I had the feeling that, if I didn't do something and soon, I would go stark raving mad.

_That would be somewhat of a relief although I don't think the world really needs another insane SuperNatural to add to the already growing collection._ I winced as I remembered the SuperNatural we had our latest run-in with four days earlier. To say that this creature had been insane was an understatement, if there ever was one. _There's far too many of them as there is for either my liking or comfort, not to mention the world's!_

I nibbled on my lower lip, wincing as I accidentally bit through the skin, a small drop of blood welling up from the wound which I dabbed with the handkerchief I had brought out of my jacket pocket. _Face it, Miles, you're in this for eternity whether you like it or not so you might as well make the most of it. Besides, there's at least_ one _good thing in all of this: Phoenix is a SuperNatural, too, so I at least have him to lean on when I need to; I'm luckier, in that respect, than the majority who's Eternal Lives push them to the far outskirts of the world alone, hated and, more often than not, Hunted._ I rubbed my eyes tiredly. _With that as an alternative, it's no wonder so many go insane; what other choice do they have?_

This was clearly getting me nowhere; I felt worse than I had previously so, pushing these thoughts quickly into the back of my mind, I hurriedly thought of my Beloved who was currently rooting around in the attic above the room I was sitting in. Thoughts of Phoenix flooded into my mind, bringing with them peace, security and serenity that I was hard-pressed to feel ever since I was Turned.

I felt my lips curving into an amused smile as my eyes closed and settled down into my chair, relaxing for the first time today, a dry chuckle emerging from my throat. _Knowing him like I do, the first thing he'd say to me would be "Miles, you brood too much." And he would, too. He's also right and I'm sure he knows it as well, curse him._

I sat for some moments in pleasurable silence, enjoying the quiet stillness; lost in happy thoughts, I felt better than I had all day today, relishing these all too rare moments of solitude when all felt right with the world and I could leave my problems behind me. For what seemed like hours, I basked in warmth, peace and security, my dark thoughts drifting away to be replaced by warm and loving ones of the man I loved more than anyone else in the world.

Finally, all was right in my world and I longed to feel more of it until I was jolted, rather uncomfortably, out of my reverie by a loud crashing noise, complete with muttered invective, above me that sounded like the entire SuperNatural world had just come crashing pell-mell into our house via the roof. With an undignified and startled squeak, I practically leapt out of my chair, grabbing the saucer on my way and careened over to the other side of the room, my heart pounding double time in my chest.

Once I had had a moment to catch my breath, my eyes narrowed into evil, little slits as I looked up at the ceiling above me, silently cursing Wright in my mind for disturbing the one quiet moment I'd had the entire day. I glared at the ceiling, resisting the urge to give him a solid mental swat and waiting until my heart, which had made an impromptu trip into my throat, made its way back to where it belonged.

_What the hell is he doing up there?!_

I didn't have long to wonder since a loud cracking noise filled the room as the ceiling gave way and Phoenix plummeted through it, landing with a loud yell on top of my desk after he bounced off my chair, bits of ceiling tile, dust and OSB board littering not only the top of my desk but the floor in the immediate area and covering Phoenix's midnight-blue suit as well.

I had to admit that he looked really funny sitting there on top of my desk covered in bits of tile and ceiling dust but anger overrode my amusement, my eyes narrowing as I glared at him.

He looked positively sheepish as he met my angry glare, a blush staining his pale white skin a rosy red, stammering, "H-Hi...Miles..."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" I asked acidly a few moments later, my arms folded across my chest.

"Well...yes..." he replied, blushing furiously as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, coughing and brushing the dust and tile from his suit with his free hand. "_Mostly,_ anyway."

I raised an eyebrow.

"_Mostly_?!" I asked in disbelief, allowing my _very_ real anger flow to the surface and find free expression, unfolding my arms and waving them around. "You destroy _half_ the ceiling and you say you _mostly_ found whatever it was you were searching for?!"

He looked put out by my outburst which only made me angrier and I gathered my mental energies together to give him that mental swat that he _so_ richly deserved when both of us were distracted by the door bell ringing at the front door. Phoenix, grateful for _any_ reprieve, scrambled off of my desk and hit the floor running, disappearing quickly into the living room.

I was still angry as I let my energies slowly dissipate but not as much as I was previously; if someone was at the door, it was because they needed our help and I should at least make myself look presentable to a prospective client and not frighten them away by looking like I wanted to eat them.

_That definitely wouldn't be the _professional_ thing to do, at any rate. We_ need _clientele and it would only hurt us in the long run if it's bandied about that I might try and devour them if I'm annoyed._ I smiled wolfishly as I casually dusted myself off and opened the door. _Besides, I can always get even with Phoenix later on but, right now, duty calls._

With wonderful thoughts of revenge coasting blissfully through my mind, I walked quietly out of the room and closed the door quietly behind me as I joined Phoenix in the living room, a wide smile on my face as I greeted our client.


	2. Weeping Willow

_**A/N: I do not own Phoenix Wright or Miles Edgeworth; CAPCOM does. The plot, the ghost bride, her intended and the plot, however, do belong to me. :^) Also,** ******I've always loved the Mind-Speech capabilities and Projecting of Valdemar Heralds in Mercedes Lackey's "Heralds of Valdemar" series and I have given Miles similar abilities; it's quite useful when you need to talk to someone and you don't want other "people"-loosely speaking-listening in. (I used it in "Dream Within A Dream" and I'm using it here, as well.)**_

_Miles and Phoenix are visited by the ghost of a distraught bride who needs their help to find her missing fiance. Little do they know that another crime is about to be committed in connection with this case...  
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Chapter 1 is up at last! :^) Sorry for the wait as well on this one! I entitled it "Weeping Willow" since it seemed to fit really well and then I found this little tidbit from an article on tree symbolism by Kathleen Karlsen, MA [The willow was also part of mourning pieces created in the 19th century (and earlier) by women to commemorate the death of a loved one. These pieces always included one or more mourners in dark dresses bent over a burial vault, tombstone or urn with a willow tree--a symbol of death, tears, mourning, and reflection. Perhaps this is the origin of the term "weeping willow."-Taken from "The Symbolism of Trees: Weeping Willows" by Kathleen Karlsen, MA] which I found very interesting. (Link in my profile.) I also added some willows to the exquisite scroll work on her red dress which I thought would fit in nicely with the roses and vines.

To give you an idea of what a Ghost Ceremony for two deceased people entails, here's some information taken directly from the Wikipedia article: _In a ghost-marriage, many of the typical marriage rites are observed. However, since one or more parties is predeceased, they are otherwise represented, most often by effigies made of paper, bamboo, or cloth. For instance, a ghost-couple at their marriage feast, the bride and groom may be constructed of paper bodies over a bamboo frame with a papier-mâché head. __On either side of them stands their respective paper servants, and the room contains many other paper effigies of products they would use in their home, such as a dressing table (complete with a mirror), a table and six stools, a money safe, a refrigerator, and trunks of paper clothes and cloth. After the marriage ceremony is complete, all of the paper belongings are burned to be sent to the spirit world to be used by the couple._  
_Some do use a priest or diviner while others do not.  
[The following is taken from the Wikipedia article on the Chinese Ghost Ceremony and under the heading "Arranging a Ghost Marriage" concerning the ghost-bride's choice of a groom: the family is certain that the groom the ghost-bride has chosen will identify himself somehow. Typically, the family lays a red envelope (usually used for gifts of money) as bait in the middle of the road. They then take hiding, and when the envelope is picked up by a passer-by, they come out and announce his status of being the chosen bridegroom._]  
[In my story, I had a priestly matchmaker arrange the Ghost Marriage for both Jia and Qui with the blessing of the two families involved.]

I used Chinese names I found on an Internet website for both the ghost bride and her fiance and the information on the Chinese Ghost Ceremony is taken from a Wikipedia entry with the link to the article in my profile if anyone would like to read more about the Chinese Ghost Ceremony. I only know that which I've researched online and have no other working knowledge on either Chinese names or the Chinese Ghost Ceremony save that. Any mistakes made are mine and I did take a little bit of poetic licence.

That being said, I hope that you will enjoy this chapter! :^)

_**Thank you **__to all my readers: those who have commented, read, reviewed, favourited/story alerted my stories and thanks also to those who have author alerted/favourite authored, as well! I appreciate it very much! I am glad that you are enjoying my stories and I hope that you will continue to enjoy them in the future! :)_

**Thanks** to my beta, Midnight-hunter, for your excellent views and beta reading! I appreciate it very much! :)

**Special thanks** to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, for his love and support, nagging (when necessary) and rekindling the fire within me to write! Love you, honey, and many thanks!

As always, comments and suggestions are welcomed and very much appreciated! :^)

Teen, AU/Supernatural/Suspense, Vampire!PxE

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I saw Phoenix's eyebrow rise when he saw the dazzling smile on my face as I entered the room but he made no comment and I couldn't help but feeling meanly glad about it. I also noticed, to my satisfaction, a worried frown beginning to form on his face as I greeted our client, a young woman dressed in a beautiful red dress, exquisite scroll work of roses, willows and vines decorating the entire surface of the rich, scarlet fabric.

The effect was stunning when coupled with her milk-white skin, rosy red cheeks, deep brown eyes and raven-black, waist-length hair with a quiet smile gracing her delicate features. I could still make out a very faint trace of olive-toned skin which meant that she hadn't been deceased all that long. Had she been, her skin would have been a sickly, pasty greyish-white, like the vast majority of those who came to see us for help in the Afterlife.

"Welcome to the Wright & Edgeworth Law Office," I said smoothly, taking one of her limp hands and shaking it gently before releasing it to fall back down to her side, a blush rising in her cheeks. "My name is Miles Edgeworth and this"-I indicated Phoenix, who was standing quietly on my right and bowed his head slightly to her which she acknowledged with a gracious smile-"is my partner, Phoenix Wright. How may we help you, Ms...?"

"Jia," the woman replied melodiously, lifting her head to look at the both of us and bowing low. "Jia Tsen." She smiled faintly. "My family has lived in Los Angeles for six generations; we came over from Beijing."

I nodded, filing this away for future reference. "Indeed. Might I ask why it is that you have come seeking our assistance?"

She flushed, her hands knotting together. "I...I need you to help...me find someone..." Her cheeks burned scarlet with embarrassment. "Someone... _very_ dear to me."

My eyebrow rose slightly over her emphasis on the word "_very_" in "_very_ dear to me." Obviously, something was troubling her in regard to her special someone and I wondered why her face continued to turn even redder as the minutes passed. Clearly, _something_ was amiss.

"Do you need us to find your special someone?" Phoenix piped up and, suppressing a muffled groan, I shot him a killing glare resisting the almost overwhelming urge to mentally swat him.

_Phoenix, you idiot!_

Jia's face fell, sorrow gracing her features as her thin shoulders shook with emotion. I could have killed Phoenix for his blunder but I happened to catch the remorseful look on his face before I had a chance to open my mouth and decided to let the matter drop. For now.

"Y-Yes, Mr. Wright," she said sadly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes and rolling silently down her cheeks like rain, "that is _exactly_ what I would like you to do for me. You see, my husband-to-be was taken away and I don't know _where_ he is, _who_ took him or even _why_." She sighed brokenly, taking out a tattered linen handkerchief and dabbing her eyes with it. "We were to be married next week but...he..." She couldn't continue but I understood what she was trying to say and why she was so upset.

"I understand, Ms. Tsen," I said as kindly as I could since I wasn't very good at comforting people in times of sorrow although I did try my best to provide at least some measure of consolation. Phoenix was definitely my superior in this area. "What was-is-your intended husband's name?"

I inwardly cursed my insensitivity at mentioning the word "was"-past tense-instead of using is-present tense. I was worried that I had upset her more than she already was but she gave me a bright smile that said she didn't blame me at all. That was a relief after Phoenix's gaffe.

"Qui," Jia replied quietly, closing her eyes and linking her trembling fingers together, her face reflecting her sorrow as I jabbed Phoenix in the ribs, "Giang. His name is-was-Qui Giang...and"-she paused to take a deep breath- "he _was..._ to be my..._ husband_. We _had _been engaged in life but we both passed on before we had a chance to marry so our respective families decided to join us together in a Ghost Ceremony to give us both in death what we hadn't in life."

I nodded, leading her to the chair in front of my desk and encouraged her to sit down since it seemed that she was near to the point of collapse. She did, giving me a grateful look as she did so.

I sent Phoenix off to the kitchen to make some tea for ourselves and our guest which he promptly did, appearing a few minutes later with the silver tea tray balanced expertly on one hand, a piping hot teapot sitting serenely in the middle of three teacups, two silver cruets of cream and sugar with thee silver teaspoons arranged neatly on the right side.

Nodding my thanks to Phoenix, which he acknowledged with a lop-sided grin and a slow wink, he picked up the teapot and began filling the teacups while I turned and walked back to my desk, pulling out the chair and sitting down. Once I was settled comfortably and Phoenix had finished distributing the tea, I leaned forward, templing my fingers under my chin and gave our client my full attention while Phoenix settled himself on the corner of my desk, the teacup resting on his thigh with his right foot planted firmly on the floor.

"Please continue, Ms. Tsen."

She nodded quickly, taking a sip of the fragrant brew before setting it down on the saucer with a soft clink and taking a deep breath, her hands knotting together in her lap.

Both Phoenix and I waited for her to compose herself in silence, giving her a sympathetic look. I had a good idea of what was going on but, as of yet, I didn't have the entire story; it was clear that, whatever it was, it upset her greatly. It must have worked since I saw a slight smile began to tug at the corners of her mouth and, a few moments later, she began to speak.

"As I said, my husband-to-be, Mr. Giang, and I are..._were._..to be married next week. Both of our families agreed upon it and arranged it with the matchmaker. Everything was ready to go for next week and then... " She stopped, sitting quietly for a few moments and then lifted her head and looked at us, her pretty face wan and tired, her eyes red-rimmed. "Are either of you familiar with the Chinese Ghost Ceremony?"

Phoenix looked confused but I nodded in the affirmative.

"I've heard of it," I replied placidly, giving Phoenix's foot a sharp kick when he started to open his mouth, "although it appears that my partner has not. Would you mind explaining it to him?"

Phoenix flushed, his pale cheeks turning red with embarrassment as he snapped his mouth shut, giving me a dark look that I happily ignored.

Ms. Tsen nodded and spent the next fifteen minutes explaining precisely what the Ghost Ceremony was, how it was conducted between two deceased people, what it entailed, the rituals involved, its purpose and so on.

I could see Phoenix's eyes widening as the implications of the stealing of her intended's body-as I was already well aware of-began to sink in. Whoever had had the body taken knew _exactly_ what they were doing and this was their intended purpose all along. It was clear to me, even at this early stage, that this was _no _mistake.

When she had finished speaking and fell silent once more, I looked over my templed fingers, my eyes narrowed. This was indeed a very serious situation since body-snatching in the Afterlife is, and always has been for obvious reasons, a _very _serious offence particularly if the said body was intended to be joined with either a living or deceased man or woman in a Ghost Ceremony.

_The Judge _isn't _going to be happy once he hears this_, I thought, rubbing my eyes tiredly, a_nd that's the understatement of the millennium. _

The Judge of the Afterlife, a rather amiable fellow all around, was passionate and as concerned with justice as his earth bound brethren and he made_ no_ bones about what he considered to be _very_ serious infractions against the Afterlife's code one of which was body snatching. He considered it a crime against both the living, in particular the grieving relatives who's loved one's body has been taken away for who knows what malicious purposes and increasing their sorrows fourfold, and the dead who's remains were being treated with the utmost disrespect and callousness that the living thieves could inflict.

This was something that he would _NOT_ tolerate and, if _any _body snatcher came before him who had died with this sin on his or her soul, he or she had the ultimate penalty brought down against them: annihilation. I had witnessed this sentence carried out once and it was a sight that I never wanted to see again; I can still remember the dying screams of the spirit as it literally burned away into ash but it took a very long time to do so and the spirit's suffering was terrible to see.

I shuddered as I pushed that memory back into the furthest recesses of my mind. When I was fully back in the present, I saw Ms. Tsen looking curiously at me.

"Is there something wrong, Mr. Edgeworth?" she asked, her brow creased in concern.

I smiled tightly. "I'm quite all right, Ms. Tsen," I said lightly, unlinking my fingers and waving my hand about in lazy circles. "I was just remembering something quite... _unpleasant_, that's all, from one of my previous cases."

That's _putting it mildly, to say the least! _

She nodded and thankfully left it at that. I didn't want to remember the scene that had played out in front of me as the Judge carried out the sentence of annihilation on the guilty body snatcher since it had given me plenty of nightmares in the nine months following the trial and execution.

After some time, I cleared my throat. I didn't really have to but the silence was becoming so oppressive that I felt I had to do something to break the heavy shroud that had settled on the three of us in our office.

"Ms. Tsen," I began as gently as I could, "I believe that some person or persons unknown have either stolen themselves or engaged in the services of a body snatcher to take Mr. Giang's body for a purpose as yet unknown."

Her hands flew to her mouth in horror. The look on her face was one of horrified disbelief, her pale skin turning even paler.

"That-that... _cannot _be!" she cried out, her hands trembling, her face pale with emotion, her eyes wide open and staring. She seemed to crumple in on herself as she pitched forward, Phoenix's quick action saving her from falling face first onto the floor.

She was trembling like a leaf as he gently helped her to sit up, her mouth working but no sound was emerging, her fingers clenching and unclenching. I could see that this possibility, anathema to both the dead and Undead alike, hadn't crossed her mind or, if it had, she had pushed it to the furthest recesses of her mind, such a thing being _too _horrible for someone so newly deceased to even begin to contemplate.

_She is such a gentle creature_, I mused thoughtfully as I watched Phoenix rubbing her ice cold hands gently, crooning soft words of comfort. _Poor child... the possibility of such a terrible crime against the living and the dead seems not to have occurred to her._

I knew better.

I knew that in both the human world and the Underworld there were those who wouldn't hesitate, despite the grim warning of what fate befell body snatchers, to kidnap a body and hold it for ransom or some other diabolical purpose. I'd come across those kinds of people, both the living in my previous life and now the dead in my unlife, many times in my career as a prosecutor and the depths to which some people would sink never surprised me anymore but filled me with a deep sadness.

_She'll learn the hard truth soon enough._

I sat in silence until Phoenix had managed to get Ms. Tsen calmed down, disturbed by the horrifyingly blank look that she now had as she stared at a point past my head behind me on the wall that I had my back toward.

Whatever it had been that she was expecting paled in comparison to_ this _degradation; truthfully, I thought that her mind had been broken irreparably by the news but I needn't have worried since, after the first wave of emotion had passed, she slowly began to come back to herself, giving her head a hard shake as sanity once more began to come back into her eyes.

"Are you all right, Ms. Tsen?" I asked with concern, leaning forward.

She nodded, dabbing her eyes with the tattered linen handkerchief that she still held in her hand.

"I-I'm all right," she said rather shakily, "I—I just... hadn't... _imagined _the possibility to explain my fiance's disappearance would be... something... so... _so_..." Her voice trailed off, waving her hands in desperate circles in the air. "I... just... never thought that... _that_ someone _would_... would _do_ such a horrible thing!"

I nodded, giving her time to compose herself before I spoke again.

"Its definitely the most logical explanation I can think of for this case, given what we know of the wide-spread practice," I said primly, templing my fingers underneath my chin once again, my lips pressed into a thin, hard line. "It makes sense from what you've told us, at least."

Ms. Tsen clearly didn't like that but she couldn't argue with my logic. She opened her mouth and began to say something but promptly shut it again, her cheeks flushing as the full horror of what I was suggesting fully impressed itself in her mind.

She didn't say anything at all for many minutes and I put my hand on Phoenix's shoulder, shaking my head as I saw him start to rise to go over to comfort her and he sat down again, the corners of his mouth twitching.

::_**That was cruel, Miles,**_:: he chided me mentally, giving me a hard look, his brow furrowing. ::_**She's got enough problems as it is with her missing fiance and you just had to add to them.**_::

He was angry and I couldn't help but feel defensive. I didn't know _what _had upset him but I was going to find out.

My eyebrow rose. ::_**Maybe,**_:: I replied stiffly, tapping a quiet rhythm on the arm of my chair and trying to diffuse my slowly rising temper, ::_**but she had to know that there was more than one **__**possible explanation for her fiance's disappearance. I still stand by what I said: someone **__**either taking the body themselves or engaging the services of a body snatcher seems to be the **__**most likely scenario to me at this point to explain her fiance's disappearance.**_::

He shook his head, clearly not convinced by my line of reasoning. ::_**I hope you're right or you've crushed that young lady for nothing.**_::

::_**Crushed?**_:: I chuckled nastily, lifting an eyebrow toward Ms. Tsen as she quietly came to terms in her own mind of the shocking assertion that someone had taken her fiance away deliberately, Phoenix's face flushing a dirty red as he all _too_ clearly saw the point I was trying to make. After the initial shock wore off, she seemed to be taking it as well as one could expect. ::_**And exactly **__what __**is it that I've crushed? Explain that!:: **_

I crooked an eyebrow in her direction._** ::She looks perfectly fine to me... as well as one who has just received a nasty shock can.:: **_I gave him a disgusted look, crossing my arms over my chest. _**::Honestly, Phoenix! What do we gain by lying to her?!**_:: It was a low blow and I knew it but I didn't care.

He turned pale for a moment and then his face started to turn red with anger. ::_**I didn't mean that!**_:: he flared back, his mouth twisting into a caricature of a smile, his fingers slowly clenching into fists at his side. ::_**I just meant that you should have been... more.. gentle breaking that to her, that's all!**_::

I rolled my eyes and then closed them, counting to sixty. Five times. Ms. Tsen looked up at us, her eyebrow raising as if in inquiry. I simply shook my head and smiled; she nodded and went back to her own private thoughts while Phoenix and I continued to argue mind to mind.

::_**That's your department, my dear Phoenix, not mine!:: **_I retorted, opening my eyes and uncrossing my arms, waving my hand in lazy circles in the air with a bored look on my face._** ::You can handle it in any manner you choose so don't angry with me simply because I prefer a different method!**_:

He gave me a disgusted look. I was really enjoying this and he knew it. He hated it when he couldn't argue back, particularly because he knew that I was right. Sensitivity really _wasn't_ my strong point and, truth be told, I preferred the straight and unvarnished truth to a gentle revealing any day.

Phoenix crossed his arms over his chest, giving me a dark look. ::_**You can really be a miserable bastard sometimes, Miles, you know that, don't you?!::**_

I gritted my teeth, my hands clenching into fists at my side. He really _was_ in fine dudgeon this evening and he certainly wasn't doing _my_ temper any favors by his obstinate stance. Since disemboweling him was _out_ of the question, I'd have to deal with his pique in another, albeit straightforward, manner. If he was going to come out with a sweeping generalization on my parentage, then he'd better be prepared to explain the reason why as I had done nothing more than to tell her the plain truth. If she had trouble accepting it, then that was_ her _concern, not _mine_.

My lips curved into an evil smile. _Still, there _are _benefits to disemboweling..._

_**::Look,:: **_I began, leaning over toward him, a little nettled when he leaned in the opposite direction. I sighed inwardly; he certainly wasn't going to make this easy for me and, in a way, I really _didn't_ blame him. ::_**Which would you rather have: a soft an tactful revelation or the **__**plain truth straight up with no beating around the bush?**_:: I hurried on as I saw him starting to open his mouth which I knew he was doing because he intended to argue the point. ::_**I know it seems like I'm being mean but I'm really not; I'm ultimately doing her a favor by being honest and straightforward right from the start. I won't sugar coat the truth, Phoenix, you know that...::**_

He sighed in resignation, his shoulders slumping. _**::I know that, Miles, but-::**_

I shook my head._** ::I think Ms. Tsen, once she stops and thinks about it, will be grateful that I told her the truth since it obviously wasn't a possibility that she had thought of.:: **_I leaned back in my chair, my face solemn. _**::We owe her that much, Phoenix, and I think it would do much more harm than good if we aren't upfront with her to begin with.:: **_

He nodded, a chagrined look beginning to spread over his face. He _really _hated to lose an argument. A few moments more of silence and his sheepish Mind-Voice came back into my mind. _**::You're right, Miles, and I do apologize for calling you a bastard.:: **_He blushed with shame, looking at the floor. _**::It was just my anger talking and I really didn't mean it.::**_

I smiled gently, untempling my fingers and lifting soft fingertips to stroke his cheek, a brilliant smile spreading over my face, his breath catching in wonder as my fingertips touched his skin._** ::I know. You were just trying to do your best by the client and I appreciate the fact that you can tell me honestly how you feel, whether or not I agree with the stand you're taking on the particular issue we're in disagreement over.::**_

I knew that he was as passionate as I was about our clients whether we defended them or prosecuted perpetrators on their behalf and it was this passion, coupled with a strong sense of justice, that had first attracted me to him all those years ago. With a smile, he knew I forgave him. After all, I'm not one to hold a grudge after someone apologizes.

::_**Mind Speech can certainly be a boon sometimes,**_:: Phoenix said amiably and I smothered the laugh that threatened to burst from my lips since I didn't miss the "come hither" wiggle of his eyebrows. ::_**Particularly when you don't want someone else to "overhear" your conversation.**_::

I chuckled softly. ::_**Agreed,**_ _**but we'd best keep this conversation until another time.**_:: I indicated Ms. Tsen sitting quietly in the chair, sipping her tea in silence. ::_**We do have a client, after all**_.::

Phoenix nodded and, with a jaunty "See you later," his Mind-Voice faded.

I sat up and Phoenix once more arranged himself on the edge of my desk, one foot hanging in space while the other one was firmly planted on the floor, waiting for Ms. Tsen to initiate conversation.

"Mr. Edgeworth," she began, looking up at us, her fingers clutching the china tea cup, "I do want to thank you for telling me the truth. I appreciate that more than you will ever know." I nodded while she blushed, looking down at the carpet for a few minutes before raising her head to look squarely at us, takling a deep breath. "I suppose the question I have is this: knowing what I've told you and knowing that the possibility exists that a malicious hand may be at work, is there any hope that you can help me to get him back so our Ghost Ceremony can take place next week?"

"We will do our very best to do so," I replied and I saw Phoenix nod in agreement. "We will do whatever it takes to try and find him in time for your Ghost Ceremony. However-" I lifted a cautionary hand over her squeal of joy - "there also is a possibility that we might never find him, we may never know who took him or why and it is entirely possible that he may be gone forever as we speak."

I linked my fingers together, looking at her over them. She grew very pale and swallowed hard, gulping down the remaining tea in one swallow. She looked very unhappy as she jerkily set the cup down onto its saucer, nodding mutely. Apparently the thought had been in her mind but she didn't want to face it. "All I can promise is that we will do whatever it takes to find him but it may be that that is impossible."

Tears sprang into her eyes, a strangled sob coming from between tightly pressed lips. Phoenix and I sat in silence, compassionate looks on both of our faces as she struggled to compose herself knowing, as we did, that hysterics wouldn't help us find her fiance any faster. Neither of us wanted to hurt her any more than she already was but she had to be kept abreast of the _very _real possibility that her fiance may be gone forever, perhaps destroyed by those who had taken his body in the first place.

My eyes narrowed as I considered this. It didn't seem likely-there was definitely a _purpose_ behind _this_ particular body snatching-but we had to acknowledge it as a very real possibility. I hoped, for Ms. Tsen's and Mr. Giang's sakes that this _wasn't _the case.

I couldn't help but wonder how this case would end as we saw Ms. Tsen to the door some time later, bidding her a good evening. She was pale but looked a little happier than she had when she'd first arrived at our office earlier the previous evening, inclining her head and thanked us for taking her case before she turned and began to walk away.

As we watched her make her way slowly down the sidewalk, I considered the situation. While this case was by no means hopeless, the likelihood of success was slim to remote, at best. At least she had a small sliver of hope that we would discover what happened to her fiance and, in the process, we would hopefully find his body, discover who it was that had taken him to begin with and why.

_Hope can be such a fragile thing,_ I thought, biting my lip as I stared up into the overcast night sky. The stars seemed especially bright this evening for some reason and were shining brilliantly in their firmament like a beacon of hope. _Yet, its amazing how a little can really go a long way._ I sighed. _I just hope, for all of our sakes, that we haven't bitten off more than we can chew._

As if he had sensed the direction that my thoughts were taking, I felt Phoenix's arm wrap around my shoulders, pulling me toward him and I smiled as he cradled my head on his shoulder, gently nuzzling my temple with his nose.

It really was uncanny just how he knew _when_ I needed consolation although I shouldn't really have been all that surprised; I often think that _he_ knows _me _better than_ I_ do.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment, enjoying the closeness and comfort of my beloved before I swiveled my eyes to look upward and he did the same, both of us enraptured by the celestial night show going on above our heads.

As we enjoyed the evening matinee, little did we know that a horrific scene would play itself out just a few miles away... and that the victim of_ this_ crime would be one of many connections to Jia's missing fiance.


	3. Malicious Melody

_ A/N: I do not own either Phoenix Wright or Miles Edgeworth_; _CAPCOM does. The plot, William Cameron, the old woman with the strange violet eyes and Lane belong to me. :^) I've always loved the Mind-Speech capabilities and Projecting of Valdemar Heralds in Mercedes Lackey's "Heralds of Valdemar" series and I have given both Miles and Phoenix similar abilities. (It's quite useful when you need to talk to someone and you don't want other "people," loosely speaking, listening in.) I used it in "Dream Within A Dream" and I'm using it here, as well. :^)**  
**_

**~X-x-X~**

_A body snatcher comes to a bad end in an old, crumbling cemetery_._ Could this mysterious death be connected with Jia's missing bridegroom-to-be? Who was the deceased body snatcher's employer and what would they have to gain by his death? Phoenix and Miles are getting ready to investigate what will turn out to be a _very_ twisted case...  
_

_** ~X-x-X~**  
_

Chapter 3! :^) I'm now caught up with the chapters I have done thus far and the next update will be in either late March or early April; of course, if I get a surge of inspiration, chapter 4 will be up before then! Stay tuned! :^)

There is no such place as "Blacke & Craige Cemetery" that exists anywhere in Los Angeles, or in any other part of the world for that matter, except in my imagination. There _is_, however, Fort Craig Cemetery in Socorro County, New Mexico but my cemetery bears no resemblance in any way, shape or form to the real one. The colour of cloth covering the corpse's face and body is taken from Chinese Funeral customs (Website address in my profile). The description of what Lane's body does after he is decapitated was taken from an incident in Pierre Burton's book, "Vimy," during the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 where a passing shell decapitated a soldier (except the part where Lane's convulsing fingers are clenching and unclenching which is some poetic licence taken by me).

["Resurrection Men" (or "Resurrectionists") were the terms used to refer to those who engaged in body snatching in the 19th century.]

Hope you enjoy it and, as always, comments and suggestions are warmly welcomed and gratefully accepted and appreciated!

_Thank you, as always, to my readers who frequently read-and even re-read-my stories and those who have commented, _ read, reviewed, favourited/story alerted my stories and thanks also to those who have author alerted/favourite authored, as well! I appreciate it very much! I am glad that you are enjoying my stories and I hope that you will continue to enjoy them in the future! :)

**Thank you **to my beta, Midnight-hunter, for all your comments and insights! I really appreciate it! :)

**Special thanks **to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, for all his encouragement, love, concern and for reigniting the fire within me to write! Love you, honey, and thanks!

Teen, AU/Supernatural/Suspense, Vampire!PxE

**~X-x-X~**

_October 16th  
Blacke & Craige Cemetery  
Los Angeles, CA  
2:45 A.M._

The burly middle-aged man stood up, breathing heavily and wiping beads of perspiration from his wrinkled brow with a ratty, brightly colored handerchief, cursing softly under his breath and grimacing as he massaged the throbbing, painful knot in the small of his back. He pushed back the baseball cap that he had perched on his thinning dirty-blond pate, his gaze cautiously surveying the confines of the abandoned cemetery that he stood from a hard, square face with jutting chin, his glittering hazel eyes hooded in a predatory look. With a painful grimace, he shifted his bulk from his right leg to his left for a moment, his Hawaiian print shirt stained with sweat and his faded blue jeans creased with dirt and age as he leaned heavily on the handle of his spade, clenching his teeth as he waited for the latest spasm to pass.

After the pain had subsided long enough for him to bend over his spade once more and continue digging at the hard earth, he wondered again, for what seemed like the fifteenth time in the past three hours, exactly _why_ he had agreed to disinter this particular body. Even if he had been generously paid to do so, which he had been, he was beginning to have serious doubts about the validity of the enterprise that he was currently engaged in; for some reason that he couldn't understand, he was feeling _very_ uneasy about the whole enterprise.

He'd done jobs like this before but never had he felt so uncomfortable in any of them as he was in this one. There was just something about all of this that felt _very_ wrong to him and he was trying to do his best to get the job down as soon as was decently possible without damaging the merchandise. He also felt a bit self-conscious about what he was wearing, casting nervous glances about him every now and then as the night marched on, wondering how much he stood out in the shadows. Normally, when he was on a job, he wore black clothing to blend into the darkness but this evening her Majesty had insisted that he do the job she had hired him for _immediately_, whether or not he was dressed properly and promptly overriding his objection with venom.

_What _was it about _this_ particular body that made it such a hot commodity that his employer wanted it immediately he wondered, scratching the back of his head absentmindedly. Granted, people in _his _line of work _weren't_ at all choosy about _where _they got their bodies from but this one was _very _different from any other that he had come across before.

He shuddered, making a sign to ward off the evil eye as he shrugged and bent over to continue with his work. He didn't like to admit it but this job frightened him although he couldn't really put his finger on exactly _why. _It certainly was an _odd _feeling, to say the least, but he didn't stop to think about it as he gritted his teeth and struck the ground with a particularly ferocious blow, fragments of earth flying in all directions. He winced slightly as a loose stone gave him a glancing blow across the bottom half of his cheek.

"I should have charged double for this," he grumbled, straightening up and striking the ground, muttering some choice epithets under his breath as he did so, "for all the trouble I'm going to in getting the body! Why couldn't_ she_ have at least disinterred the grave _herself_?!" He grunted angrily as he struck the ground slightly to the left of the first blow, the spadeful of dirt tossed carelessly aside. "It's damned inconsiderate of _her_, that's what it is!"

He straightened up and wiped his brow before the spade struck the earth once again, sinking further into the ground than it had previously. _Why did I even accept this job in the first place? I'm really beginning to wish I hadn't... and I don't understand why!_ He sighed in irritation. _You're getting much too old for this, Lane; your body isn't what it used to be. Maybe it was old William's tale that's been on my mind tonight, the damned fool..._

He winced as the knot in his back made its presence known and this spurred him on in his task, striking the hard earth repeatedly beside his wish to get out of the cemetery as fast as he could. Every now and then, he'd stop, spurred on by a feeling of menace but, when he stood bolt upright and looked around, he couldn't see anyone.

This had happened quite frequently this evening and, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was scared and he dug harder and much more quickly than he had since he'd started earlier in the evening, not really caring if he damaged the body in the process or not. He just wanted to get the job done and get out of there as fast as he could and was more than willing to drop his spade and leave the premises.

He'd been doing this for over twenty years and no job before this one, save the very first one he had done that almost got him caught by the authorities, had even gotten the slightest reaction from him; _this_ one was _definitely_ an exception. He'd felt a sense of doom following him wherever he went ever since he'd arrived in this accursed cemetery and he couldn't wait to get the job done, deliver the body, take his well earned payment and get as far away as he could from L.A.

The sooner he left, the better he'd like it and, despite his back and his muscles screaming in protest, he'd put his all into finishing the digging, panting with exertion once he'd finished, doubled over by the mound of earth with the spade dropped carelessly on the ground. It took him awhile to catch his breath and, once he had, he stood up and peered into the opened grave with apprehension; it was almost as if he expected the corpse to rise up and admonish him for the choices he'd made in life that lead him to commit the ultimate act of desecration.

He chuckled at the thought, shaking his head as he turned away from the open maw, bending slowly over in order to pick up the ropes that he had left within easy reach on the ground two yards away from him.

The sharp, staccato snap of a twig behind him put him on full alert and his body responded automatically by assuming a crouching position, his heart hammering double time in his chest. His eyes were wide and staring into the darkness, hoping to catch where the mysterious sound was coming from. He tried to control the shaking in his hands but it soon proved to be a useless venture as the trembling became much worse. He looked around him fearfully, straining his eyes to see in the near pitch-black darkness that seemed to surround the cemetery like a shroud.

With his heart pounding so loudly that he was afraid that someone would hear it, he strained his ears, hoping to catch where the mysterious sound had come from and where; even though he was sure that nothing _human_ was skulking around this forsaken place, he couldn't discount the very real possibility that something _inhuman_ might be on the prowl.

He'd heard stories of such things, of course, but he hadn't put much credence in them. He was of the opinion that those who spread such ridiculous tales had been frightened out of their wits by a cat or something stalking night time prey in the dark and had scared themselves silly with the wild imaginings that they had created in their own minds, making up a wild tale of being stalked by something supernatural in order to save face.

Lane remembered how he'd badgered a fellow body snatcher, William Cameron, mercilessly when the latter, returning from a job white-lipped and shaking like a leaf, threw down the money he'd earned and said he was done with body snatching once and for all. This was rather an odd pronouncement, to say the least, for William was one of the best in the business and had made his name on the black market with his ability to get organs that others couldn't or wouldn't through legal channels. If there was a body part or something else that one wished to get discreetly, if illegally, then old William was the one to go to. In all the years he'd been in this business, going on twenty-two now, Lane never remembered hearing a complaint about him which was why when he, himself decided to get into this lucrative trade, he'd gone to William at once and offered him a job.

Lane simply couldn't understand his reasoning; why give up body snatching when not only was he a Master at it but the old man was also making a lot of money for them both in doing it? The _only_ reason that made any sense to him was that William had simply lost his nerve and said as much in their final conversation before he'd left his employ once and for all that night over six years ago. It came as quite a surprise to Lane that the old man wanted to quit now and, when he'd asked William why, he refused to go into detail at that point, saying only that he _wouldn't_ be coming back and that he could have the blood money for himself if he chose. He remembered laughing at William and needling him with well chosen insults in order to get him to tell him why he was giving up his lucrative trade that had, in essence, made them both_ very_ wealthy men.

William had turned brick red with anger at the insult and, as Lane knew he would, told him the reason why he'd decided to hang up his hook and get out while he still could. He'd been waylaid and warned by a crimson-eyed something in the cemetery once he was delivering the merchandise (that was all bodies were to him, merchandise). The creature had even touched him, as if to make a very clear and hard point, and since then, he'd come to regret his vocation in this business.

That touch felt like a branding iron, William explained, his voice shaking with fear as he recalled the memory with horror, and it left a smoking mark on his arm that hurt even as they spoke. Lane _did_ notice that he was clutching on his lower arm as he talked as if it pained him and he found himself to be genuinely curious even though he still thought that the old man had simply lost his taste for the business.

Lane wouldn't have put much credence into the tale-indeed, he didn't really believe him-but with William's wide open and staring, terrified eyes and the fact that he was shaking like a leaf, he had to conclude that something had obviously frightened him and very badly. He seemed like a shell of his former self.

William reminded Lane of a balloon once the air had been let out of it, collapsing into itself; he noted that, all the time that he was relating his tale of terror in the darkness, he kept looking out of the window behind Lane's head into the black night, starting with terror at every sigh of the wind, every snap of a twig, every knocking noise of branches scraping against the windows, his face as pale as death.

It was _indeed _curious; he'd known, and worked with, William for over twenty years and never once in all that time had he ever recalled the old man being the slightest bit afraid, no matter how complex a job was or the level of difficulty attached to it. He'd _always_ impressed Lane as being a man of great courage and steel nerve over the years that William had been in his employ and he found it extremely difficult, not to mention impossible, to match the man he remembered to the shattered relic standing in front of him.

Once he'd finished his tale, William turned and, without a word, walked out the door, ignoring Lane's repeated calls for him to come back and to reconsider his decision. He'd never seen the old man again after that night and he often wondered what had become of him; not only did he respect him as a professional, he'd also come to see him as a personal friend and it bothered him that he wanted to get out of it all of a sudden when, until that night, he'd been perfectly happy and content. As far as he knew, which wasn't saying much, since William was one of the most tight-lipped people he had ever met. In this business, discretion and silence were definitely two qualities you wanted in those who worked for you.

This tale of a crimson-eyed creature was preposterous and he found himself dismissing the tale out of hand as being one of pure fantasy by a senile old man. Still, there_ were_ elements of the story that continued to nag at him in the back of his mind and, body snatcher though he may have been and a criminal in the eyes of the law, old William was _never _a liar, an outright rarity in the criminal underbelly of the city, and this came back to Lane forcefully as he crouched in the darkness next to the open grave.

_And they say there is no honor among thieves..._

He couldn't help but wonder if old William _was_ right and there was some kind of supernatural creature stalking men like him in the dark corners of cemeteries; he also remembered some stories he'd read in the newspaper about men known to offer body snatching services turning up dead in the cemeteries, their bodies mutilated beyond recognition and this also came back to him, as well.

_What utter rot!_ Lane thought disdainfully as he straightened up once again, dusting off his jeans with a more steady hand and forcing himself to chuckle at his growing sense of uneasiness and fear. _The old man's story is simply that: just a wild tale that he made up in order to save face and nothing more. I don't even know why I'm even thinking about him now when I haven't spared a thought for him in over six years!_

He sighed, squaring his shoulders as he bent over once again and picked up the large coil of rope that was lying on the ground, giving the landscape the once over as he stood back up. _I'm no better than he is, jumping at shadows and entertaining wild thoughts like a child in the throes of a terrible nightmare!_

He took off his cap and smoothed his sweat-covered hair down with a nervous hand, his eyes darting around him in a wide arc, stuffing the cap in the back pocket of his jeans and taking a deep breath. _I'd better get the body out of the grave now that I've disinterred it or_ Her Majesty _will have a fit._ He made a face as he remembered the crow's feet and wrinkles that lined his client's face and the strange, cold violet fire that burned in her eyes that chilled him now that he thought about it. _I don't know what it is about her that bothers me but I'd just as certain get the merchandise delivered and be done with it-and her-as soon as possible. Once that is done, I think I'll take a long overdue vacation as far away from this place as I can get._

Shuddering anew at the memory of the old woman's strange, burning eyes, he pushed it to the furthest recesses of his mind as he tied off loops in the rope and, once he was done doing that, climbed quickly into the open grave with the small crowbar that he used for opening coffins clutched tightly in his sweating hands.

He made short work of opening it, stepping back as the stench of rotting flesh came out of the coffin, his nose wrinkling a little in disgust. This was one aspect of the job that he had not been able to get used to: the smell of putrefying flesh. Even though the corpse was covered with a light blue cloth and the face covered with a yellow one, he could see the tell-tale signs that decomposition was taking place and pretty rapidly from the looks of it on the cloth itself, covered with black spots from one end of the cloth coverings to the other on both the body and face.

Grimacing, he set to work at his grisly task, carefully lifting the body and slipping the nooses around the neck, at the chest area, underneath the knees and around the ankles and taking care that the body wouldn't break in pieces once he'd lifted it out of its coffin. He'd had that happen once a long time ago and he really didn't want to recreate the disgusting event again; it took him a month or more to get the smell of decayed flesh out of his clothing. It fairly nauseated him for months after the smell eventually faded and he'd ended up burning the clothing he'd worn that night although, to the good as far as he was concerned, he _did_ go about his work _much_ more carefully after that.

Once the corpse was securely fastened with the rope, he held all the ends together, clambered up out of the grave and stood at the head of it, gently lifting the ends of the rope together. After some time, he lifted the body out of the grave, laying on the ground a few feet away from the empty hole.

Lane sighed with relief, leaning against the side of his pickup truck which was parked a mere two feet away from where the body was resting, mopping his sweaty brow with the handkerchief. This body had been more difficult than most of the others he had had to deal with due to the advanced state of decomposition and he shuddered once again as he thought of the old woman's oddly burning eyes.

Would he never be able to get that image out of his mind? At this point he seriously doubted it but at least the hard part of the job was done; he'd successfully retrieved the body from its grave and now all he had to do was to wrap it up in tarpaulin and load it into the bed of the pickup truck for delivery and he'd be done with the woman for good.

After a few minutes had passed and he had been able to get his breath back, Lane pushed himself away from his steady perch and walked over to where the body lay. He glanced down at it, tilting his head slightly to the right as he stared curiously down at the lifeless shell that was once a human being. Normally, he didn't feel anything toward the merchandise-it was his bread and butter, after all-but he couldn't help but wonder what was so special about this body and why the woman with the weird eyes wanted it so badly.

He felt a chill run down his spine at the thought of her, making a sign against the evil eye as he did so. He _wasn't_ as superstitious as some of his fellow body snatchers but the feeling of unease had returned and he also had the feeling that someone, or something, was watching him.

_Enough!_ he chastised himself as he walked quickly back to the truck, retrieved the black tarpaulin wrapped securely in a tight, compact bundle before hurrying to where the body lay. _You're just as bad as that damn fool William was, jumping at shadows and snapping twigs! Just get the job done and then get the hell out of here! If I_ never _have to see that_ woman _again after tonight, I'll be a_ very _happy man!_

He quickly untied the knots that held the tarpaulin in place and tossed them aside as he set to work unrolling it and spreading it on the ground beside the body and smoothing out the various wrinkles until the surface was flat and smooth. There was really no need to do this other than it was a point of pride with him and had been ever since he'd gotten into this business twenty-two years earlier.

It seemed to him a little more... respectful, somehow and it had helped to ease his conscience many times over the years until he had been in business for some time and he was no longer bothered by moral issues of taking dead bodies from their graves. No other "Resurrection Men" that he knew of did this and it made him swell with pride as he thought of it. Perhaps the dead forgave him this indignity of plucking them out of their graves like wild flowers from a field because he took care to provide them with what he considered to be a smooth and comfortable mode of transportation. He hoped so, at least.

In no time at all, he had the body wrapped securely in the tarpaulin and was in the process of tying knots in the rope that he had used to keep the tarpaulin in its compact bundle when he suddenly froze, his heart beginning to beat faster, his breath coming out in ragged pants and breaking into a cold sweat. He _thought_ he'd heard something in the distance and he strained his ears to try to pick up the strange sound over the frantic hammering of his heart in his chest. He willed himself to calm down and listened again in the deafening silence, trying to determine if what he had heard was just a product of his imagination or it really _was_ out there somewhere.

For many minutes he strained to hear something-_anything_!-but he heard naught except the soft sigh of the wind as it blew through the tall grass of the cemetery and the occasional creak of ancient tree branches tapping out a soft rhythm on long forgotten and crumbling mausoleums.

Lane was about to chalk it up to his imagination and was going back to his work of finishing tying the knots in the ropes that secured the tarpaulin-wrapped body when he heard the weird sound again, louder this time. His heart began hammering wildly in his chest; this time, there was no mistake and he turned his head fearfully in the direction where the weird sound was coming from, swallowing hard.

It _was_ the oddest sound he had ever heard, like a muffled, discordant funeral dirge played on a cracked, wooden flute. It seemed to swell in the quiet stillness of the cemetery, the weird, discordant music increasing in volume as it slowly came toward him.

Lane's hands began to shake so badly that he couldn't finish tying the knots and he dropped the body before he hurriedly leaped up from the ground, his mind chattering in fear. He swung wildly around, trying to see where the noise was coming from and who was making it but he couldn't see anything in the now pitch-black darkness of the early morning hours.

Even the pale sliver of moon had disappeared beneath the thick clouds covering the sky and, as he stood there in mounting terror as the music wound its way in his direction from an invisible pipe, he'd never felt so alone in his life than he did right now.

There was nowhere he could run to, even if he had wanted to; the sound seemed to come at him from every direction, effectively penning him in that small area near the pickup. He started babbling with terror as the music steadily increased until it hit a deafening crescendo. He couldn't stand the strain any longer and began to scream mindlessly, clapping his hands against his ears, trying to drown out the dreadful cacophony that seemed to encase him like a shroud.

The horrid melody continued for some time until, with a piercing squeal, the music abruptly died, leaving Lane's ears ringing in the dead silence through his hands. He didn't remove them for many minutes and, when he finally did, whimpering in terror as he took them slowly away, the eerie silence unnerved him even more than that awful music had.

Lane, now thoroughly frightened, stood as still as a statue beside the body for some time, his mouth moving but no sound except strangled mewls emerging from tightly compressed lips. He couldn't even scream when he saw numerous pairs of glowing crimson eyes that seemed to come out of nowhere, quickly surrounding him like a pack of wild dogs and circling around him in ever tightening arcs, slowly moving in closer.

His eyes widened in horror as he saw the blood-red eyes coming in ever closer, like a cat closing in on the mouse its been content to chase for some time and is now moving in for the kill, his fingers curling into claws and scrabbling at empty air behind him. He dimly wondered, for that split second, what had happened to his pickup but he soon ceased to think of anything at all as the eyes closed in on him. His last thought was that the old man had been right and his fearful scream, torn from deep within him, was cut short as his head was severed neatly from his shoulders, blood fountaining out of his severed arteries in spurts as his heart continued to beat for a few moments more, the body taking two jerky steps forward before it collapsed to the ground. It twitched a couple of times, the hands clenching and unclenching sporadically until all movement ceased and it lay still, sprawled out in the dirt like a broken rag doll.

A mourning dirge sounded in the stillness as the eyes stood clustered around Lane's dead body for some time before nodding in satisfaction and turning their attention to the tarpaulin-wrapped body that lay beside the dead body snatcher...

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_October 16th  
Outside The Wright & Edgeworth Undead Law Office  
Los Angeles, CA  
3:55 A.M._

My head lifted from his shoulder quickly, my Othersenses on full alert, my eyes a glowing crimson color. "Phoenix?"

Phoenix was jolted out of his reverie in an instant, his eyes also glowing. "Yes, Miles?" He was as surprised as I was.

"Did you hear that?"

Phoenix tilted his head to the right. "Hear what?"

"Music."

Phoenix gave me an odd look, his eyebrow raising. "Music?"

"Yes, music although its a kind I haven't heard before around here. It sounds positively ancient."

He frowned. "Really? I don't hear anything. Are you sure you didn't imagine it?"

I nodded. "Positive."

Phoenix chuckled. "Positively_ ancient _music? You _must_ have imagined it."

My cheeks reddened. "I'm telling you I _didn't!_ I _heard _something in the distance and its a kind of music I've never heard before!"

Phoenix sighed, turning his head to listen hard for a few moments, his brow crinkled in concentration before he shook his head. "I _still_ don't hear anything."

I was about to ask how he could not hear it but stopped abruptly when I realized that I didn't hear the music anymore, the crimson red color fading from our eyes, leaving them blue and grey once more. It _was _a rather disconcerting feeling, to say the least.

_What the...?_

"Its... stopped."

Phoenix looked confused for a moment, his brow furrowing. "What's stopped?"

I turned to look at him, confusion plain on my face. "The music. Its stopped."

Phoenix's eyebrow rose. This _was_, indeed, unusual. "That's odd. What kind of music does that?"

"I don't know but it certainly is weird," I remarked, more to myself than anyone else.

Phoenix considered this for a moment, his lips pursed thoughtfully.

"Do you think it had anything to do with this case?" he said after a few moments of silence.

I shrugged. "It _could_ be but I'm not sure at this point."

Phoenix nodded, trying to stifle a loud yawn. "Well, its nearly dawn and we both really should retire for the day. We have a busy evening ahead of us later on and we'll both want to be well rested when we start our investigation."

"Quite right," I said and turned out the lights, making sure that all the doors were locked before following Phoenix into the bedroom. I couldn't get the weird music I'd heard out of my mind and, before falling asleep snuggled in Phoenix's comforting embrace, I wondered again where it had come from.

That evening, both Phoenix and I would learn that the music I'd heard earlier that dark morning _wasn't_ my imagination at all from the headline on the front page of the daily newspaper:

**HEADLESS BODY FOUND IN ABANDONED CEMETERY; WITNESSES REPORT HEARING STRANGE, UNEARTHLY MUSIC.**


	4. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

_A/N: I do not own Phoenix Wright or Miles Edgeworth, worse luck; CAPCOM does. However, the plot, Lien Kao, Jia Tsen, Qui Gang, Qui's grandmother and parents are mine. :^)  
_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Now that the newspaper has confirmed Miles' worst fears, the connection to the weird music lies in an elderly violet-eyed woman...Qui's grandmother, who has plans of her own that _don't_ include Jia Tsen... And who is the mysterious young man who shows up on their doorstep to plead for help_ _and what connection does he have to Ms. Tsen? It's quite a Gordian Knot that they have before them and time is running out._  
**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chapter 4! :^) Getting them done slowly but surely with more to come! :^) Busy, busy, busy! [Don't be surprised if this undergoes some changes in the next few days. Always room for improvement!]

Quite a conundrum the boys are in, aren't they? It's going to take a lot of work for them to sort this mess out! Can they work it out in time? Obsession is a terrible thing; it makes a normally rational person do something that is completely out of character for them. Qui's grandmother isn't entirely sane, and his death has unhinged her emotionally.  
This jumps around a bit in time so I hope that it doesn't get too confusing to follow!

The names I used for the characters were taken from two websites [addresses are in my profile]. There is no such place as "Blacke & Craige Cemetery" that exists _anywhere_ in Los Angeles, or in _any_ other part of the world for that matter, except in my imagination. There _is_, however, Fort Craig Cemetery in Socorro County, New Mexico but my cemetery bears no resemblance in any way, shape or form to the real one.

I wrote the confrontation between Qui and his grandmother over his choice of marriage partner to demonstrate the generation gap, as it were, and I have used it fictitiously. [I don't know if there is or would be actual conflict over the choice of a marriage partner but I used it to make a point.]

**Thanks** to my readers! I appreciate your comments, faves, story and author alerts and suggestions and I hope that you will keep them coming! :^)

**Extra special thanks** to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, who's unfailing love, support, advice, nagging [when necessary], tender loving care helps to keep me grounded when I feel like tearing my hair out during the writing process! Love you, Hon, and many thanks!

Comments and suggestions are very welcome and encouraged!

Rated T, AU/Supernatural/Suspense, male/male relationships, Vampire!Phoenix x Vampire!Edgeworth  
**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_October 16th  
Blacke & Craige Cemetery  
Los Angeles, CA  
3:30 A.M._

_The eyes stood sentinel over the bodies of both the deceased body snatcher and the body that lay beside his headless corpse, low crooning sounds emerging from invisible throats. It sounded like an ancient funereal dirge, the creepy sound spreading around the cemetery and the surrounding area._

_The small, wizened violet-eyed woman stood off to one side a few feet away from where the bodies lay, her mouth twisted in savage satisfaction and triumph as she gazed upon the scene. She was surrounded by a few burly men, dressed entirely in black velvet from head to foot, blood-red piping going down both sides from the collar to the sleeve. _

_After a few moments of silence, the woman nodded and the men quickly, yet silently, went into action as one, in a flawlessly perfect wave of motion. They seemed to float over the ground rather than touching it as they toward the second body, ignoring the pitiful remains of the body snatcher as they did so, flowing with liquid grace to where the second body lay. In perfect synchronicity, they wheeled in formation as they settled down beside it and, as one, nine pairs of hands slowly went out into space, drawing downward toward the body with tenderness and affection._

_The elderly woman's breath quickened as they did so, her violet eyes shining with an odd, burning light._

"Be careful, you fools!" _she hissed out in a croaky voice, her cracked, dry lips twisting into a grimace, her fingers nearly rending the linen handkerchief that she held in her hand, her delicate frame bent over with the demands of age. _"We don't want to damage my grandson's body." _She watched with baited breath, her heart beginning to pound harder as she watched them gently and tenderly, raise the body from the ground._

"Qui,"_ she murmured, tears beginning to trickle down her face as they made their way toward her, clutching at the collar around her neck with her left hand while her right slowly extended outward, _"my precious, precious Qui! I was _so _afraid that I'd lost you... but now that I have you back again, _everything_ will be all right." _Her breath caught in her throat as they stopped in front of her and began to gently lower the body to the ground, emotion rendering her incapable of speech. _

_How long had she yearned for this opportunity, to see her beloved grandson again? She thought that all had been lost when he'd become engaged to that pretty upstart Jia Tsen and not the woman that she, herself, had wanted him to take as his bride. _

_The resulting conflict between herself and Qui had been explosive enough that their once _very_ close relationship had nearly been irrevocably destroyed; however, she had decided that, in the end, Qui's flouting of her closely laid plans was not worth destroying the closeness they enjoyed; she had swallowed her pride and, masking her disappointment as best as she could, put on a good face once she met Ms. Tsen._

_She hadn't been overly impressed with her at their first meeting but she did note that Qui was besotted with her and Ms. Tsen, in turn, was deeply in love with him; clearly,_ he _was happy with his choice of prospective bride and she was prepared to bow to his wishes for, in the end, all she really cared about was his happiness. She still didn't like Ms. Tsen all that much but had to admit that she was beautiful, kind and gentle and obviously deeply in love with her grandson. Qui was very happy with her and that was _all _that really mattered but, deep down inside, she couldn't accept it and the sullen rage that began to eat at her like a cancer grew more as each day passed._

_Then came that tragic day. January 16th. Qui's grandmother shook with emotion even now, nine months later, as she remembered it, looking down at her grandson's shrouded body. Her hand trembled as she bent over, the tips of her quivering fingers brushing the slightly moulded shroud, knocking bits of soil and rotted material as she did so, tears pouring down her face and sorrowful mewls torn past tightly pressed, faded lips._

_It had started out as an ordinary day: she woke early, had her usual morning cup of green tea and watched the sun rise, smiling as the soft, watery rays of light filtered through the window and gently kissed her face. This _was_ her favorite part of the day, the moments shortly before and after sunrise,when the world was quiet and she basked in the silence of nature._

_She was startled by a frantic pounding at the door some moments later and, her heart beginning to beat faster and her mouth dry, she scrambled to her feet as quickly as her aged body would allow and hurried to answer it. Yanking the door open wide, she was confronted by the pale, white face of [], her lips trembling and her eyes open wide with shock and horror._

"What is it?"_ she remembered demanding the shaken girl, her hand clutching at the collar at her throat, alarm growing within her at Lien's pinched and unhappy face. _"What's wrong?"

"Mother..." _she began in a tremulous voice, her breath hitching as she swallowed down a loud sob that threatened to escape her tightly clenched lips. _"I...You... need to sit down. I-I... have some bad news..."

_She didn't have to ask once she saw the sympathetic look on Lien's face; she knew, without having to be told, that something had happened to Qui. Why else would she have come with such frantic speed otherwise?_

"Qui's dead, isn't he?" _She was surprised at how calm she was when, inside, her heart was breaking into a thousand, bleeding pieces, bitter sorrow welling up within her. "_That's what you've come to tell me, isn't it, Lien?"

_Startled, Lien lowered her head a moment and then nodded quickly, sorrowful mewls emerging from between her tightly clenched teeth._

"I-I'm... sorry, Mother... I-"

"Come here, child," _she interrupted gently, knowing that Lien was on the verge of tears and reaching out with shaking arms to her, who clasped them and buried her face in her neck, _"let it all out..." _And she had and she couldn't help her tears mingling with the sobbing girl's and, together, they wept for their loss..._

_It was sometime later that the idea had come to Qui's grandmother that she could get him back if she joined him with Lien in a Ghost ceremony; that way, she would have the wife of _her_ choosing living with her in her household and she was certain that the young woman, herself, wouldn't mind. _

_But how could she do it? There was already going to be another Ghost Ceremony where Qui would be joined to his beloved Jia, who had passed on four months earlier, and everything was set. It had been __the priest _himself _who had joined them, with the full agreement of both families of the deceased, together and the ceremony would be carried out the next week. _

_Her teeth ground together in frustration as she remembered, her hand curling into a fist. _All _of her plans, her desires and wishes, were being upset at every turn. She still didn't understand what, exactly, Qui saw in Jia and _why_ he couldn't see that Lien Kao was deeply, and hopelessly, in love with him as she had been since childhood. _

_How could he have been so blind? That was something that his grandmother _couldn't _understand then and didn't now. Lien's devotion to him was legendary among those who knew the two young people and, yet, Qui seemed to be oblivious to her love for him. He counted her among his closest friends but that was as far as any feeling he had for Lien went. She'd hoped that, once Qui came back from university, that he would realize Lien's love for him and choose her to be his bride but all that came crashing down when he's first brought Jia home to meet his parents and grandmother. _

_Qui's parents had welcomed her warmly from the first but, for some reason that she didn't understand at the time, she never really warmed to Jia herself, seeing her less as a prospective in-law than an interfering interloper. She had tried to accept Ms. Tsen but she couldn't which was what had strained her once close relationship with Qui. He couldn't understand why she didn't like Jia when everyone else who had met her had; how could she tell him that she had cherished hope of him marrying Lien for so many years she simply couldn't accept another?_

_It had caused the first of many conflicts between them and she grieved that it should be as such. The poisonous jealousy his love for Jia Tsen caused was causing a division between them that hadn't been there before; whatever it was that he saw in _that _girl, it couldn't compare, at least in _her _mind, with Lien. Why couldn't he see the good qualities that were in Lien and fall in love with her instead of this half-starved harpy?_

_Jia had sensed the tension that existed between her fiance and his grandmother and had done her best to try and repair the breach but it was nearly impossible; the grandmother couldn't accept anyone marrying her grandson other than Lien and Qui couldn't understand _why _his grandmother was being so recalcitrant about his love for Jia Tsen. Both were unhappy about the state of their once close relationship that was now basically in tatters but neither would budge an inch, despite pleas from both Qui's parents and Jia Tsen herself. _

_The _only_ thing that would repair the damage done, in her mind, was her grandson coming to his senses and marrying Lien instead of Ms. Tsen and, as Qui had made abundantly clear, that_ wasn't_ going to happen. _

_The grandmother remembered the day when the arguments came to a head and she blinked away tears as she recalled what happened. Qui and Ms. Tsen had come to visit his parents and all was well until she had stepped into the room, her face a mask of fury. Something had happened and Qui, his parents and Ms. Tsen had braced themselves for the inevitable eruption which happened moments later. _

_She had been in rare temper that day; after a tearful visit from Lien, when she'd basically confessed her hopeless and desperate longing for Qui, she'd lost her composure, stormed into the living room and bared her feelings for Ms. Tsen, Qui and what she thought of the idea of his marrying her for all to see. _

_The silence in the room after her outburst was deafening; Ms. Tsen's lips were quivering, her eyes __filling with tears; Qui put a protective arm around her while he glared daggers at his grandmother and his parents were stunned into silence since they had _no _idea that she felt that way about Qui's marriage._

_After she had calmed down, she wished with all of her heart that she could take back what she had said but it was too late; what she honestly felt was laid bare for all to see. A few minutes more of silence ensued before Qui went to fetch his fiancee's wrap and left the house, his lips tightly pressed together, his brown eyes snapping sparks. He _wasn't _happy with her, that much was clear and, if his grandmother _wasn't_ happy about the woman he was marrying, that was her problem; he was going to marry Jia and that was that. If she chose to continue to make an issue of it, she would _not _be welcome at the wedding and he no longer wanted anything to do with her._

_Those last words crashed in her mind and she reached out a beseeching hand to Qui but he ignored it and left with Ms. Tsen, slamming the door pointedly behind him. She'd stood there in stunned silence for some time, her violet eyes wide open, her mouth working with no sound emerging; the full depth of her vitriol surprised even her and her daughter and son-in-law were at a loss for words, shock rendering them both speechless. _

_Qui didn't come back for some time after that and she missed him terribly, as did his mother and father. The house had become about as enjoyable as a crypt without Qui's sunny disposition to warm and cheer it and she felt his loss keenly although she simply couldn't bring herself to feel any warmth to Ms. Tsen at all. _

_Which brought up another uncomfortable question: _why _did she hate Ms. Tsen so much? Was it simply because she couldn't stand the thought of [], who was like a daughter to her and had been since she was a child, marrying _anyone_ but Qui, her favorite grandson? Was it because Lien was obviously in terrible pain because of the unrequited love she carried for him and she hated to see her suffering like that? Was it because she could sense something about Jia that no one else could, that the girl was some kind of fraud?_

_She hated to admit the truth to herself or anyone else but she had long cherished the hope that Qui would marry Lien that she couldn't stand the thought of him marrying anyone else and, to her shame, she was prepared to hate anyone who wasn't Lien. It was an ugly truth and she shrank from it's full, poisonous but truth just the same._

_What did Jia Tsen have that Lien Kao didn't? She'd asked herself that question many times and still didn't have an answer. That wasn't to say that Jia was a horrible, monstrous person, far from it, for she was good, kind to all, selfless and very beautiful; once she'd met her, the grandmother could understand _why_ Qui had fallen hopelessly in love with her but she couldn't fully let go of the hope that he would come to his senses and marry Lien._

_She sighed as she thought of her. Lien was a good woman, selfless and kind and, although she was not a great beauty by classical standards or even when compared to Jia Tsen, she had a quiet charm all of her own that enchanted all those who knew and had come into contact with her. Lien loved people and she loved her like she was her own daughter; could she be faulted for hoping that her scapegrace grandson, with whom she was _very_ close, would have chosen her instead of Jia Tsen?_

_All of the ugly past swirled through her mind as she held Lien close to her, sighing bitterly and doing her best to try and comfort her; after what seemed like an eternity, the younger woman wiped her eyes with an impatient swipe, doing her best to smile through her tears._

"Come inside, Mother," Lien_ said kindly, gently and lead her inside, closing the door softly behind them, _"we can both grieve privately." _She nodded and both women broke down in tears, holding each other close._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_  
_

_She didn't know _exactly_, and could never really pinpoint _when_,_ _the idea of using the dark arts in order to save her beloved grandson came to her. Perhaps it had come in one of her many nightmares where he was begging her to save him from the cold grave and imploring her to save Jia, as well, his fleshless, bloody hands reaching out to her in nightmares had begun a week after Qui had died and, as time went on, they increased in intensity to the point where she barely got three hours of sleep a night.  
_

_Perhaps it may have been when the grief of his passing had become too much to bear and she collapsed under its crushing weight or perhaps it was when the longing she had to make everything right by Qui's marrying Lien instead of Jia Tsen became an obsession, one that never left her during her waking hours or even in the darkest hours of the early morning._

_She woke with a start, drenched with sweat and breathing hard, her heart hammering in her chest. Night after night, she had the same recurring dream; month after month, she couldn't shake the overwhelming desire she had to make things, in her mind, at least, right and marry her deceased grandson to a woman of her choosing and the one that had loved him since they were children: Lien._

"Qui..." _she murmured, pressing her hands to her heart and closing her eyes tightly. _"You never even noticed the one who truly loved you in life but, now, I will make things right in death. You _will_ marry Lien and she _will_ come to live with me as your bride... as you should have done..."

_Her heart truly light for the first time in months, she lay back, her weathered face wreathed in a bright smile as she slowly surrendered to sleep, her mind whirling with all the preparations that needed to be made and knowing that she only had a very limited time to put her plans into action._

Everything will be all right_, she thought pleasantly as she went to sleep,_everything will be all right, Qui, for both you and Lien. I won't let _her_ interfere again... I promise.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_October 17th  
Phoenix Wright & Miles Edgeworth Residence  
Los Angeles, California  
2 A.M._

It was that last phrase, "_Strange, unearthly music_" that really set me to wondering how that could be connected with this case... and why those three words resonated with me so strongly.

_You won't make the connection without reading the rest of the story, Miles,_ I thought sardonically, grimacing a little bit as I started reading the article on the front page. _It's never a good thing to start jumping to conclusions. _I worried my bottom lip between my teeth as I sat there, my mind going over a thousand possibilities

The newspaper fluttered to the table from nerveless fingers, my heart beginning to pound in my chest, a red mist forming in front of my eyes that quickly drowned out my surroundings in a blood-red color. Phoenix noticed and rose form the table, walking quickly to my side, his arms wrapping around me. I shivered, leaning into that comforting and very welcome presence.

I felt _very _cold for some reason, right down to my marrow, chilled by sone nameless fear that I could neither recognize nor comprehend. _Why_ did I feel so afraid and _why_ was I so upset over the confirmation of what I had thought I'd heard?

I was right all along... so why didn't this make me happy but instead filled me with a dread that I'd not experienced before? _What_ was making me feel so uneasy about all of this?

I bit my lip, worrying it gently. I had been right; there _had_ been something unearthly going on earlier that morning and the newspaper article merely confirmed that.

"I was right," I whispered to no one in particular, feeling Phoenix press my head against his chest and hearing his soft voice crooning words of comfort in my ear, "something _did _happen!"

"It looks that way," Phoenix murmured in my hair after a few moments of silence, his lips pressed against my head, "I apologize, Miles, for not believing you. I shall _not_ make the same mistake in future."

"Thank you," I murmured softly as I felt Phoenix's fingers tangle in my hair, "I appreciate it."

We sat there for some time in silence, each thinking our own private thoughts until we were startled by the insistent ringing of the doorbell at the front door. I could Feel Phoenix's surprise and it matched my own since, as far as I knew, we didn't have any appointments lined up this evening.

"Were you expecting someone?" I asked as I straightened up and stepped back, puzzlement clear on my face. "A client, perhaps?"

He frowned slightly, worrying his lower lip. "No," he replied slowly, "I _wasn't _expecting anyone and I _don't _have any appointments booked for this evening." He looked at me, confusion apparent in his blue eyes. "Were you?"

I shook my head, looking just as confused as he was.

"No, I wasn't expecting anyone and I didn't have any appointments scheduled for this evening, either."

Phoenix's eyes fixed right on my face. "Then, who could it be?"

I sighed, with feeling, a grimace twisting my lips. "I don't know, " I said sardonically, my eyebrows raising as the doorbell continued to ring, "but, as whoever it is at the door is so stoutly proving, we may as well answer it since they'll be ringing it all night if we don't."

"Too true," was Phoenix's only reply as he stepped back, turned quickly and walked into the living room where I heard him open the door. I heard a flurry of movement, a loud crashing and Phoenix's startled exclamation; I didn't waste a moment but literally flew out of the kitchen to the living room. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to find but it wasn't the heavily panting form of a young man dressed in a blue kimono, his skin a sickly white.

"Phoenix?" I asked in trepidation, my heart literally in my throat as I saw him standing there, a grim expression on his face as he held the semi-conscious young man, shaking his head in dismay. "What's happened? Are you all right? Who is this?"

"I'm all right," he said, much to my great relief, "but I can't say the same for this poor lad here." Phoenix looked at him more closely and I could see what he did: the young man, sickly white and pale, dressed in rotting grave clothes. "He's obviously depleted himself for some reason to get here although I_ can't _imagine for _what._"

After some moments of silence, the young man stirred slightly; both Phoenix and I held our breaths as he slowly, and painfully, lifted his head and met my gaze squarely. His lips were moving but made no sound. Frowning, I bent over closer until my ear was at a level with his mouth and I heard him whisper, "Save... her. You must... help... her... before... she's... you... must... Qui..."

_Qui? _My eyebrow rose. _Isn't that...? _

"M-my …. name... is... Qui... Save... Jisa... Please... save... her..."

Phoenix let out a surprised squawk when the young man fell silent, his head lolling back, his eyes rolling up to show the whites. Without wasting another moment, I quickly left the room to snag some smelling salts from the kitchen and raced back, uncorking the bottle as I came to a stop beside them. I put ut under the young man's nose and he stirred, his nostrils flaring as the pungent-smelling salts did their work, his eyes fluttering open to stare blearily at me, the corners of his mouth trembling as he fought to stay awake and deliver his message.

"Take it easy now," I soothed, putting the bottle once again under his nose when it looked like he was about to pass out, "you're among friends here." I stepped back and looked at him in silence for a few moments while he struggled to compose himself. Phoenix didn't say a word but held the young man until he could stand on his own and led him to the couch in the living room, bidding him to sit down, which he did gratefully.

"Is there anything we can get you?" Phoenix asked, now completely recovered from the shock of the young man's appearance right on our doorstep that culminated with him fainting and falling into Phoenix's arms.

"Water, please," the young man returned, his racing breath slowly beginning to return to normal. I nodded once to Phoenix who hurried into the kitchen; I heard him rummaging around in the cupboard over the sink for a glass, heard him turn on the tap and letting the water run for a moment or two, filled up the glass, turned off the faucet and came racing back, handing the young man the glass which he took with a grateful smile.

Both Phoenix and I watched him as he took small, careful sips, waiting until he sank back, sighing in satisfaction. After a moment or two more, he opened his eyes, sat up straighter and looked at us, a look of pure desperation on his face.

"You _have _to help _her_!" he pleaded, his fingers tightening around the glass he was holding until I was surprised that he didn't shatter it with all of the pressure he was putting on it. "You must! Before it's too late!"

He was becoming quite agitated again and it took some time for both Phoenix and I to calm him sufficiently that he could speak although he kept repeating the same thing, over and over: we had to save_ her_ and we needed to do it now or else it would be _too _late!

"Who do we have to save?" I asked, trying to make sense of his garbled, desperate words. Phoenix frowned; this wasn't making any sense to him, either.

"Jia... Jia Tsen!" the young man replied and I heard a sharp intake of breath behind me. "You _have_ to save her before it's too late! They _have_ my body and _they _intend to perform the Ghost Ceremony with someone else, Lien Kao!" He leaned forward again, his eyes pleading. "Please, you _have_ to get my body back before the ceremony is performed! If you _don't_..." His voice trailed off, a look of heartbreaking anguish imprinting itself on his face.

The gist of it was plain enough but there was still two unanswered questions: _Who _was this young man and _why _was he so insistent for us to save Ms. Tsen?

_Is he connected to her somehow? You'd think so, given the passionate desperation I can see on his face. I wonder..._

"We'll do all we can, I promise," Phoenix said soothingly, "but first we need to know who you are."

The young man nodded so vigorously that the water left in the glass was beginning to slip and slide dangerously close to the rim and I pried it loose from the young man's fingers before any of the liquid spilled.

_I don't need to have to have the slip cover dry cleaned again._

"My name," he said solemnly after a long pause, "is Qui. Qui Giang." He paused for a moment and took a deep breath before he continued while Phoenix and I exchanged surprised looks over the top of his head. Thanks to a twist of fate, the very person we had been looking for literally turned up on our doorstep. "In life, Jia Tsen and I were engaged to be married but death took us before we had a chance to marry and now my grandmother has stolen my body in order to marry me to Lien Kao, a friend of mine since childhood." He fell silent, his mouth twisting in unhappiness and regret. "I _don't _begrudge Lien _anything_ and I _don't_ want to hurt her but I _don't _love her; I've only _ever _thought of her as a friend and _nothing more_ all of our lives."

Identical expressions of shock were on both my face and Phoenix's as well, the very same thought crossing both our minds: _What did this mean to our case and what exactly were we supposed to do to help prevent the upcoming Ghost ceremony with Ms. Kao?_

We didn't know... and time was running out.


End file.
